Australia's moral compass: child refugees

Yet the Government ignores its guardianship obligation and repeatedly returns to the theme of needing to deter the flow of boats, rather than seeking to achieve this objective with the protection and care of minors.

For the last three months Anglicare has been housing some of these unaccompanied minors as part of the 'community detention' option. Our experience is that the young people immediately thrive in the community setting, whilst they await their applications being processed. They are keen to participate in Australian life, they involve themselves in a variety of activities and fundamentally they are desperate to belong and become attached again to something from which they can continue to build a life upon.

No matter how hot the political environment may be for a Government, from time to time it needs to remind its citizens, and sometimes itself, that decisions also need to be made on moral grounds when it comes to children. The exclusion of unaccompanied children from the Malaysian option for those that arrive on this boat should be one of these.

The Government needs to take a breath here.

It needs to take the responsibility in its own hands and out of the courts to show effective border protection can co exist with humane guardianship responsibilities by absorbing these children into the successful 'community detention' approach.

If it finds itself too conflicted and compromised to take such a course of action then, at very least, appoint an independent Guardian to ensure someone in this country is taking the responsibility of seeking these children's best interests.

Do this and I think we could still argue that our decisions as a country are still guided by a moral compass.